re:

Now not only will OH and WI not have a high speed rail line, but think of the thousands of jobs they just forfeited for their states as well. Boy those Republican governors, really looking out for your citizens.

So now California will move into the 21st century, while the Midwest sinks further.

Again, what are these states going to do when gas prices soar? Oh, well who cares, right?

re: California to get high speed rail funds which 2 states rejected

"California is one of 12 states that will receive a piece of the redirected funds. Florida, the next biggest beneficiary will get $300 million.

California's two Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, had both urged LaHood last month to provide additional funding once it became clear Ohio and Wisconsin would forgo their potential share.

"No other state is as ready, as able, or as determined to develop a high-speed rail system in the near future," Feinstein stated.

Boxer added that the new funding is "great news for California, which has made a strong commitment to high-speed rail and the jobs it creates."

Transportation Department and state officials are still negotiating their grant agreements, which will spell out details of the funding including the final amounts."

re: California to get high speed rail funds which 2 states rejected

re: California to get high speed rail funds which 2 states rejected

by meljomur

Dec. 11, 2010 1:35 am

Yes, it is cool. Not too surprising that California is leading the way in pursuing high speed rail.

It's a shame that these midwestern states are being held hostage to their narrow minded Republican governors. Why on earth would they be willing to forfeit so many jobs for their individual states? It's very backward thinking.

re: California to get high speed rail funds which 2 states rejected

by douglaslee

Dec. 11, 2010 4:06 am

Kasich rejected it because it is too slow, it does hit high cruise speed of 80 mph, but it stops for disembarking and embarking passengers which brings down the average. Now if you could get people to catch it while its moving, and jump from it whenever, his logic falls apart.

Plane flight time is considered block to block, or brakes off on departure until a complete stop at destination, wheel blocks installed on tarmac, seatbelt sign off, jet bridge to the door. Taxi time, wait time, is considered flight time if the brakes are off. That makes some planes fly slower than a bicycle by Kasich's figures.

re: California to get high speed rail funds which 2 states rejected

by Art

Dec. 11, 2010 4:27 pm

Most people will realize that driving is more convenient and quicker.

That hasn't been my experience with the light rail in Portland OR. I would much prefer riding the MAX line when it is going where I want to go. Driving is stop light to stop light. On MAX, I can get lost in a good book before I know it, I'm there. It takes about the same time as driving only without the aggravation. And Max isn't even "high-speed."

re: California to get high speed rail funds which 2 states rejected

Maybe they are going by what the U.S. calls a high speed train rather than what Europe, Japan and China call high speed trains.

Going by their definitions, we don't know how to make high speed trains.

"Smiles abound inside the sleek train as, with a breathtaking whoosh, it rockets to 300 kilometers per hour in two minutes flat. Overhead, like a giant scoreboard, an LED blinks out our record-breaking progress till we top 430 kph." http://www.gluckman.com/Maglev.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_the_United_States
Texas of all places is producing 5 times the wind energy as California. The mid west has untapped potential for windpower, which is good, but it's a shame we aren't using it. If we had followed Jimmy Carters plan we would get 20% of our energy from wind by now.

Don't get me wrong, California is awesome, they do have lots of wind power, lots of public transportation, lots of environmental and consumer protections, high emission standards, regulate their industry etc, but as I see it the main thing posing a threat to the mid west isn't lack of mass transit for a highly dispersed population, it is unsustainable farming practices pushed by Monsanto lobbyists (the mid west is largely an agricultural based economy, not a city commuting economy), while not pushing sustainable energy harder.

The mid west is still very republican, which is weird since per capita we have lower incomes due to lower cost of living. Republicanization is the result of relative low cost of monopolizing media here.

Does anyone remember the high speed transit system that California had? After it was built they were convinced by a for profit corporation to privatize it. At which point they basically just demolished the entire system. A similar thing happened with some of the first electric cars. Maybe things have come full circle since then?

California is almost always the first state to do something cool, then if it works it rubs off.. usually/hopefully.

re: California to get high speed rail funds which 2 states rejected

by polycarp2

Dec. 13, 2010 7:26 am

Makuck wrote: "Does anyone remember the high speed transit system that California had? After it was built they were convinced by a for profit corporation to privatize it. At which point they basically just demolished the entire system"

poly replies:

I rode the light rail in Calif. when I was in middle school. I lived in Calif. for 2 years as a kid. Cities in So. Calif. were all connected to it. I could whisk to the beach in no time.

Tracks were torn up and rights-of-way sold off. They were replaced by polluting GM buses...one of the firms that bought the transit system. Standard Oil and Firestone Tires were the other purchasers.

After they made the transit system cumbersome, slow, and unprofitable, it was turned over to government agencies. Private business always knows best. LOL

re: California to get high speed rail funds which 2 states rejected

by makuck

Dec. 13, 2010 11:03 am

I think that story is a great example of failures of a capitalistic system. Money for an individual corporation was made by destroying something that had 99% of it's economical life left, and much more value to society as a whole in comparison to the profits the individual corporation made by destroying their source of competition, which also just so happened to be a more efficient means of transportation in that area. Because of that last fact, it is also a great example of how capitalism suppresses innovation. Republicans always say that capitalism and corporations is what drives innovation, but this is a perfect example contradicting that talking point.

re: California to get high speed rail funds which 2 states rejected

by DRC

Dec. 13, 2010 11:12 am

It is possible to have an integrated system where the high speed line connects larger regional hubs and the locals go stop to stop. I rode both in Italy, and both beat driving and having to maintain a car. People who have cars tend to take the bus and train unless they are going to small towns off the main line.

I think this is why one has to vote Democrat locally even if the DC party has real problems in strategy or intentions. California will see the value of its investment while Ohio continues to stage Tea Party protests as everything rusts.